H. `Sandy' Sander, Big-band Trumpeter

OBITUARIES

December 30, 1994|By MARY C. WILLIAMS Staff Writer

Harry "Sandy" Sander, a prominent trumpeter who played with several big bands, including Guy Lombardo's band, before he took up Dixieland jazz, died unexpectedly on Tuesday at his home in Deerfield Beach. He was 69.

The cause of death is not yet known, said his wife, Dorothy Sander.

Mr. Sander, who was born in St. Louis, Mo., was 5 when he began taking lessons on the trumpet. His father was a trumpeter with a post office band.

"Sandy showed a lot of interest in it at the time, so his father decided that he should have lessons," Dorothy Sander said.

At 17, Mr. Sander began traveling with bands led by Sammy Kaye, Lombardo, Jan Garber and Claude Thornhill.

"Sandy developed into a powerful player who reliably conquered the difficult lead parts played an octave above the rest of the trumpet section," said Will Connelly, a family friend.

In 1952, Mr. Sander was drafted into the Army, but continued playing music with a band he formed. After the Korean War, Mr. Sander returned briefly to St. Louis and continued playing big-band music.

He moved to Florida in the mid-1950s, taking a sabbatical from music for several years after the end of the big-band era. Like his father, Mr. Sander went to work for the U.S. Postal Service. He was a letter carrier in Hollywood until he retired in 1979, his wife said.

Mr. Sander returned to big-band music in South Florida, playing with bands led by Vinnie Tanno, Woody Chapek, Eddie Gralka and Tom Webb, Connelly said.

The traditional Dixieland jazz of New Orleans captured Mr. Sander's interest in the early 1980s. He began playing regular engagements with the Bourbon Street Jazz Band and the Traditional Jazz Band before he formed his own band, the Rampart Street Jazz Band.